yup, no one batted an eyelid before, now as i crawl through traffic a good 2/3 of cars have at least one person staring and turning their heads

I like it lol.

helps at car meets i can just say 'the BMW hatch with orange wheels'... before 'the bmw hatch' no one noticed.. and when it gets wider and wider wheels, it'll be even moreso, but this is easy for now, and sooner haha

lots of people won't like it, it's very polarising, the older people at work just go 'oh you've ruined it'.. all my friends love it

people on the internet are pretty well 50/50, they either go 'wtf is up with late model bmw's and orange wheels, gross!' or 'love it, love black and orange theme'

lets be honest, i WANT people to notice it, if you can't tell by the wheels lol. like it or hate it, it's memorable... and it's still a different hate to 'civic with a milo tin and gt-wing' hate.

Originally Posted by E90SoFlo

I dont mind the orange wheels at all, and its plasti dip, take it off when you get tired of it!

if i'm not sick of it when it comes time for new wheels, they're getting powder coated though haha... silver wheels are too plain, white wheels too filthy, black wheels too black on black on black bleh... but yeah, if i get sick of them, 20 minutes of peeling (which is REALLY enjoyable)

for once, i don't want this car to look more sleeper, no one suspects a hatch that isn't a WRX/STI to be properly fast anyway mostly hahaha... most of them will probably go 'oh lol, way too much show, bet it has no go'

Originally Posted by Black Sheep

Why did you not pick a underpowered s65 engine?

a solid triple the price to actually buy the thing, if not more.. pass.. i mean, i'd LOVE to, would be somewhat cooler, but no one looks at the N54 for swaps mostly, because it's so common for most other models.

doesn't really matter what i put into it as long as it's decent, there aren't many E87 swaps to anything around as far as i know, i've only seen one lol.

plus, i know the N54 will almost literally bolt straight up in most ways, it's so much easier in the long run really. and easily street legal.

Originally Posted by Black Sheep

Very cool build tho for sure. Good luck

thanks, once i get the engine stand, then the gearbox, there'll be a lot more pictures and updates.

I actually like the orange wheels on your black car. I'm usually one that prefers a clean look but I understand what your going for with this build. Your going to love the n54

Thanks, don't get me wrong, it's all going to be very clean and good condition and neat and whatnot, but it'll have things like contrasting colours and .. standout features in general..

One thing i see as a problem is, if i have the hood open at a big meet, it'll have a nice painted engine cover, the turbos will (probably) be low mounted twins and the only 'standout' things will be an anodized black massive IC, BoV and anodized intake pipes.. it'll be really clean.. but unlike a honda which hundreds of people go 'man that's soooo modified, no honda came with a turbo' (there was a 400-500whp race civic there for one..) or an M car which is obviously special, or any of the crazy OBVIOUSLY modified cars, evos, WRX's, skylines... LS* motored cars (holden here, or the RARE chevs lol) or the RB26 E36's etc..... 99/100 people won't have a clue what's special about it, or that it'll be more power than 99/100 cars present lol.. but you can't tell that if it's sitting still turned off.

I'm building it for me, but you have to admit, people admirinig your car because it's nice, gives you a nice feelinig lol... and if i like looking at it, other people will.. the only problem being i'll need to make sure it's 100% legal because the police like the obviously modified cars...

on that note...

a couple of good photos out of the few of me from downshift meet yesterday (giant monthly car meet here):

You could put a black 135 badge on it to make people realize it has something different. Or you could put a nice shiny intercooler on it, and it will have a nice contrast against the black car.

The n54 isn't a pretty engine (when looking in the engine bay).

nah i wanna stay clean and badgeless

putting a 135i badge on it cuold be ok though, i dunno i'll think about it lol. probaly not though... it'll have wide front and rear, massively offset wheels a huge FMIC, and.. well it's not going to be quiet, people will realize it's somehow not factory original lol.

naw, going to have a black FMIC on it, a bit one, but black still.

or i could get it orange hahaha

i'll make sure it's pretty, i'm already not happy with the black conduit holding the wiring, i'm going to change that myself, paint the engine cover. don't worry it will be pretty .. engine cover will have the black/orange and all that like the rest of the car, black bov etc. etc.

maybe relocate the vacuum canisters out of clear view (or simply make a plate).. it's not going in ugly, screw that... literally everything i can in black and orange lol.

minor MINOR wire tuck job, nice vacuum tubing, do it once do it right or i'll regret it.

i think my N52 looks alright in the bay... but the engine cover isn't $#@!ty plastic so that helps a bit lol.

the whole 'inline 6cyl in a hatch' thing helps a lot though haha

what i originally posted for;

who knows what bolts the bellhousing uses, i have an engine stand i need to buy some bolts for

@VargasTurboTech you probably know considering you have an N54 on a stand ?

but i don't want oily stuff in my business potentially (though i now the OCC will stop it mostly)... plus it adds a bit of cost to the intake tubing lol

So you're saying that you want to run it to the intake tube so that it doesnt fail inspection but you DONT want to run it to the intake tube to avoid oil.

It sounds like you need to run a dummy tube from under the engine top cover to the intake tube and then stealthily VTA the crank. Or you might vent to the exhaust mani using a venturi system and gain 10-15hp from the negative crankcase pressure.

So you're saying that you want to run it to the intake tube so that it doesnt fail inspection but you DONT want to run it to the intake tube to avoid oil.

It sounds like you need to run a dummy tube from under the engine top cover to the intake tube and then stealthily VTA the crank. Or you might vent to the exhaust mani using a venturi system and gain 10-15hp from the negative crankcase pressure.

Basically, i want the best of both worlds haha

hmmm venting to exhaust would probably be an even bigger headache than itd be worth though sadly

after recent incidents, and the final straw tonight of stupid underground parking kerb, i'm millimeters away from getting a beater as a daily and pulling mine off the road and just getting it all done... suspension, engine, bodywork, absolutely everything.. rolling-shell it practically lol... ... how nice the car used to be compared to how poor it is now, i can't stand it any more

if i don't get a work car soon (fingers crossed) as soon as overtime/away work picks up steam again, i'll most likely get some sort of really beater to daily drive in until i do

not to mention moving house in a month, nfi how i'm going to deal with moving the engine/gearbox, probably not going to have a double garage

oh and a word of warning to all potential AUS visitors: kangaroos are not amazing cute animals you want to see

they're the devil's minions, they're like the deer of australia (we have deer just not road-traversing mainly), if you're driving, they are the enemy, they WILL hit your car if there are headlights, and they will mess your $#@! up.. >:@

oh and a word of warning to all potential AUS visitors: kangaroos are not amazing cute animals you want to see

they're the devil's minions, they're like the deer of australia (we have deer just not road-traversing mainly), if you're driving, they are the enemy, they WILL hit your car if there are headlights, and they will mess your $#@! up.. >:@

keep your funds for your car, buy a pile of $#@! and get around, nobody is judging. Thats what I'd do, considering the funds you'll be requiring.